Tuition lawsuit pits daughter vs. Mom and Dad

A daughter sued her parents for college tuition -- and won. (Vladek, Getty Images)

Michael BorenOf The Philadelphia Inquirer

Tuition lawsuit “tearing my family apart” says father

Before Caitlyn Ricci sued her parents for college tuition money, before they stopped talking, before her father accused his parents - Caitlyn's grandparents - of "tearing my family apart," the Ricci family was just trying to hold things together.

Caitlyn Ricci's parents divorced in 1997, four years after her birth. Her mother has said she worked to create a caring environment - taking her to aquariums and art museums - when Caitlyn wasn't with her father.

But as Caitlyn pushed age 18 and beyond, her parents said, their relationship with her grew fragile. They tried to push chores, summer classes, and a curfew on her after discovering she was drinking, they said.

In February 2013, Caitlyn Ricci left her mother's home. Whether she was forced out or moved by choice remains in dispute. Maura McGarvey has said she warned her daughter: Leaving home meant Mom and Dad would no longer cover her expenses.

Contact ceased until a few months later. Then McGarvey and her ex-husband learned of the battle that lay ahead.

Their daughter was suing them.

•

Inside the walls of Superior Court in Camden County, the case quietly proceeded.

Lawsuits among family members over college tuition aren't that uncommon in New Jersey. Usually, though, it's one parent suing to force another to pay. This case was different.

For Michael Ricci and McGarvey, the hearings were a sort of reunion - a chance to see a child who, they said, had cut them off. For Caitlyn Ricci, who just "wants a future," her attorney said, the hearings were a shot at a decent college education.

It was Oct. 11, 2013, and Judge Thomas J. Shusted handed down what both parties considered a victory. Shusted ordered that Michael Ricci and McGarvey split the costs of their daughter's tuition, fees, and books, so long as she applied for all eligible loans and scholarships.

Her parents insist she did not do so - and they refused to pay.

Caitlyn Ricci was attending Gloucester County College at the time, her attorney, Andrew Rochester, said. It is unclear how much her parents would have owed; both sides have disputed the amount.

Months passed. The calendar turned to 2014. Still no payment.

Within the family, though, anger was boiling.

Caitlyn Ricci had filed the suit with the support of her Camden County grandparents, her father's parents, with whom she had moved in after leaving home. Her father said he believes the grandparents steered her actions.

"I have zero respect for my parents for what they've done and how they've handled the situation," said Michael Ricci, 44, of Haddon Heights, in a phone interview Thursday.

"They're the ones who are responsible for tearing my family apart and tearing my daughter away."

The grandparents did not return a call for comment.

Caitlyn Ricci's parents wanted her to stay in New Jersey for college. Perhaps Rowan. Or maybe Rutgers.

But over the summer, she was accepted into Temple University. Still not on talking terms with his daughter, Michael Ricci found out through Twitter.

"I had no idea that she even applied there," he said.

The court battle was about to get uglier.

•

On Halloween of this year, a different judge in Camden County - Donald J. Stein - heard the case. This time, Temple tuition was at stake.

Stein, according to Caitlyn Ricci's attorney, ordered Michael Ricci, a senior account manager, and McGarvey, a middle-school English teacher, to pay $16,000 of their daughter's tuition. (Caitlyn Ricci's attorney said that her total tuition is about $26,000 and that she has paid for some of it with financial aid.)

McGarvey, who declined to comment Thursday, took to a blog after the hearing. In a Nov. 6 entry, she wrote about her disappointment.

"Anyone who hears this story thinks it's crazy, and no one can believe that this case saw the inside of a courtroom," she wrote. "But it did. And I lost."